The Beginning Of The End
by Destiny Bunny
Summary: Remus and James are a couple, but Peter gets a crush on James and James starts to like Lily.


**The Beginning Of The End  
**  
_[A/N: this was written for the second wave of the Remus/James FQF. The actual story of the events will follow.]_  
  
Response to Winter 2004 challenge #5: _Remus and James are a couple, but Peter gets a crush on James and James starts to like Lily.  
_  
The signs had been there all along, even from that very first meeting on the Hogwarts Express, back at the start of out first year. I suppose we were just too stupid to see them. Well, I was anyway. But the trouble really began in the summer of our fifth year. Remus and James had been dating in secret for about a year then. James had managed to convince Moony that the secrecy was all for his benefit, because he didn't like attention. And poor Rem was so grateful. When we were talking, he would go on for ages about how good Prongs was to him. It was all a bit sickening really. Not as bad as Wormtail, but there was something about the way the two of them seemed to worship James that set my teeth on edge.  
  
I guess it was the day of our Defence OWL exam when I truly noticed it. Things had been coming together in my mind for a good month then, but that's when I truly realised what had been staring me in the face the whole time. I'm surprised I didn't at least figure Wormtail out before then. But he had always had a bit of a hero-worship thing for James, ever since first year. I couldn't ignore it then though. James was playing with that stupid snitch and Wormtail was giggling insanely every time he caught it. It's no I snapped, much longer and Rem would have been sure to figure it out. And the stupid thing is, he would have stepped back in a second. He would have just given up, probably even suggested the two of them got together. It's just the kind of person he is, he thinks he's below everyone else.  
  
Of course, I had to distract James after that, and what better way than with a spot of Snape-bashing? I didn't really mean for it to go quite that far, and I certainly didn't mean for Rem to get upset by it. Of course that was partly James' fault. He just had to go flirting with Evans. I guess that's when I realised his thing for her was more than a joke. Prongs had always said he was just doing it to annoy her and, being his best mate, I had believed him.  
  
Moony didn't notice. He was so busy blaming himself for the whole incident, he didn't see what was going on. I could tell their relationship was doomed but I tried to keep it alive for Remmy's sake. Prongs was managing to sabotage his chances with Evens fine by himself, leaving me to deal with Wormtail. There were plenty of jokes and pranks aimed at discouraging him, many of which ended with a trip to the hospital wing. Fortunately, they also drove him into the arms of a Hufflepuff called Sarah Watkins.

* * *

Summer came and went, and it was a little way into the sixth year when James broke it off with Remus. He said something about needing to think about his future. Rem was devastated of course. It seemed James had forgotten the chronic depression which had plagued Rem for the past three years.  
  
I'll never forget the day I found him on the floor of the prefect's bathroom with deep cuts on his wrists and arms. Looking at him as he lay trembling in my arms, sobbing about how he was sorry, he didn't mean to do it and he didn't want to die really, that was when I realised how I felt for him. I had always been aware of my love for him. But on that night, I truly hated James for leaving Remus like this.

* * *

Remus had recovered by the time James and Evans (sorry James, 'Lily') got together. Of course I'd like to think I had a helping hand in that recovery. We had got together ourselves towards the end of sixth year, and Prongs and Lily started dating officially around Easter of our seventh year.  
  
Remus always called it the beginning of the end. But as I watch him, curled up beside me sleeping peacefully, I rather think this is the end of the beginning. 


End file.
